Provisions and Personnel
by Mistress V
Summary: It was just supposed to be a routine Starbase layover. For Spock, it was anything but.


I normally write Trek fic onanother site, and have a Sp/Ch relationship going with itys own universe and characters. My muse decided that was not enough after I saw the film. I know we saw a blonde medic and heard McCoy call for Chapel, but filmwise, to coin a phrase, we know nothing. So here's my spin---call it an experiment, because I am certainly not abandoning my own universe that I write in. Call it an early birthday gift to myself.

I am keeping to TOS canon with Christine Chapel giving up a research career to look for her fiancée Roger Korby, last seen on Exo III. But I am bestowing upon her the PhD that we all discussed, in Biology (with a concentration in exoarcheological biology, a nod to her fiance's specialization) , and have given her the rank of Lieutenant (after all, she is seen as Commander in several movies, she can't not have a rank, think of all the officer nurses in M*A*S*H, for example). The rest of the ideas put forth here are my own speculation, but some came from TOS, of course.

Legal jargon: They own it, I borrow it, but my own work is my own. Copyright Mistress V 2009.

Provisions and Personnel (AOS) 1/1 (K)

by Mistress V

Spock shifted his weight and had to fight from giving a very un-Vulcan hrrmph of annoyance. It had been a long day and he was anxious, for him, to be done with the tedium of bureaucracy.

The *Enterprise* was in orbit around Starbase 9, to take on the standard quota of provisions and personnel. Ordinarily, the captain would oversee such things. Kirk, however, was summoned to the base almost as soon as they achieved orbit. It turned out the Tellarite Vice Consul was also visiting and had several trade proposals he wanted Kirk to oversee delivery of to Federation brass. Kirk's reputation as the dashing young captain had spread through the quadrant as quickly as plasma fire. To coin an old Terran phrase, Spock thought, Kirk was on everyone's A list at the moment.

Ordinarily, Spock would not have given the proverbial Vulcan fig about the matter. The duties he was performing were standard for any starbase orbit and he had no issue with it. He *did* however, have issue with the fact that Lt. Uhura had accompanied Kirk at the outset, ostensibly to translate for the captain. The proceedings were now extending to a formal dinner, apparently. Yeoman Rand had just sent on both the officer's dress uniforms, and overnight bags, to the starbase for the event. No one knew when they would be expected.

A consignment of cargo bound for a nearby colony diverted Spock's attention. He and Scotty checked in the huge numbers of containers, which were then whisked off to storage bays. Spock again began brooding. Uhura didn't seem to mind the base side excursion with Kirk. In fact, the relationship they had shared at the Academy, if you could even call it that, was somehow not the same now the mission was taking place. Nyota treated him more as a friend than a romantic interest and openly flirted with several crew members, including Kirk. Oh, the banter they once shared still surfaced on occasion but Spock could not help wondering if the dreaded "We can still be friends" speech, which many of his classmates had experienced, was about to take place.

Two more consignments of cargo were transported. Spock gave a surreptitious check to the chronometer, anxious in his own way for the duties to be over. He needed a vigorous workout in the ship's gymnasium, perhaps a fencing match with Sulu, followed by an extra long meditation, to calm the quagmire of his innards. Nyota could be dealt with tomorrow.

"Just one more to go," Scotty remarked. "The new head nurse."

"New? I thought we already had one?" Spock replied, curious as to the sudden crew departure.

"Her Mam's been taken gravely ill back on Denobula, so she left on the first transport as soon as we got here."

"That is an unfortunate situation and I hope her mother makes a speedy recovery." Spock felt a stab of very human emotion at the mention of the word mother. "But how did we procure a new one so rapidly?"

"Dr. McCoy says this one asked for our ship as an assignment, specific like. Somethin' about visitin' a planet where someone she knows is stationed, " Scotty continued. His further speculation was interrupted by the intercom chirp.

"Lieutenant Chapel requests permission to beam aboard," a female voice spoke.

Spock did not even look up from his PADD. "Permission granted, Lieutenant," he replied.

The transporter hummed and began the materialization process. Spock was still checking over the docket when he heard an audibly indrawn breath from Scotty's assistant. Akin to a whistle.

He was about to call the crewman to order when he noticed the object of his attention. The woman standing on the platform was, as his shipmates so often said, a knockout. He let his gaze traverse from her black boots upward, noting long, shapely legs. Vulcan females hid their figures under voluminous robes, hinting at what might be beneath, but it was indeed logical to see---and appreciate--the real thing, he rationalized.

The rest of his visual journey was not a disappointment, though Spock found the woman's eyes almost mesmerizing. A shade or two different from his mother's blue orbs, he was at once struck by a combination of confusion and sadness, as though she did not precisely know why she was there.

"Lt. Chapel, welcome aboard. I am First Officer Spock. May I----"

Further conversation was interrupted by the whoosh of the doors. Leonard McCoy dashed into the room, obviously flustered.

"Lieutenant Chapel!" he exclaimed. "Sorry I'm late, had some last minute things to check in. You know how it is."

"Indeed I do, Dr. McCoy." The woman extended a hand and Spock watched as superior and subordinate shook warmly.

"I'll show you to sickbay and your quarters. We have a day here so there's plenty of time for you to get acclimatised." McCoy turned to Spock. "Thank you for seeing my new head nurse safely aboard," he said with a nod.

"All in the line of duty, Doctor," he said, though the woman turned at the sound of his voice and their eyes met once again. Spock felt an electric current pass down his spine.

"So, should I call you Doctor?" McCoy asked as they exited the transporter room.

"Heavens no!" Her laugh echoed like crystal chimes. "That was in---"

The doors whooshed shut and Spock was unable to hear further, much as he wished to. Was in where? With whom? And how? He made a vow to look up the new crew member's record, if only to satisfy his curiosity.

"Now that WAS a bonny lass," Scotty remarked to his assistant. "Don't you think so, lad?"

Indeed, Spock thought as he left the transporter room.

Fin.


End file.
